Farming machine: Malaysia’s BoomGrow secures pre-Series A investment to expand in SEA
The investment was made through the Khazanah Nasional Berhad-backed Gobi Dana Impak Ventures (GDIV) fund, according to the press statement.
BoomGrow was founded in 2015 with an innovative approach to growing fresh produce.
Using repurposed shipping containers, the company developed Machine Farms to grow pesticide-free vegetables.
According to the firm, these farms use 95% less land, water and labour.
Another key feature of the Machine Farms is that they are modular and stackable. This means they are able to grow close to consumers.
This is especially important for areas with limited access to fresh, clean, and traceable produce, which is aligned with the company’s ultimate goal of producing vegetables throughout the entire region.
“We are at the point in history where we cannot overlook the importance of investing in the right companies that can change the world and in BoomGrow, we see just this,” said Jamaludin Bujang, managing partner, Gobi, Malaysia.
“Food security is a major issue faced by many countries as a result of climate change, rising population, and limited supply of farming areas. Their innovative solutions are ensuring that our supply chain remains intact and healthy for generations to come.”
Regional expansion
BoomGrow operates its Machine Farms in Malaysia and are in the process of expanding.
Recently, the startup expanded to the Philippines as a strategic response to the high population density and the growing demand for fresh, clean, and nutritious produce.
The move was enabled by previous funding from SME Corp and venture capital funding from Big Sky Capital, an American VC firm as well as angel investors.
With this latest funding round, BoomGrow aims to expand operations across the region.
“It’s great to see investor alignment with our vision which will enable us to execute our growth plans across SEA,” said Murali Krishnamurthy, co-founder and CEO of BoomGrow.
Project Semai a Malaysia-wide research project to better understand agricultural challenges in Malaysia identified climate change as one of the top three challenges faced by smallholders in Malaysia.
The survey involved over 3,000 smallholders between 2022 and 2023 and was initiated by Khazanah Nasional Berhad.
Fresh produce reality
The firm believes that the Machine Farm model is the “the future of scalable, sustainable hyper-local farming”.
Furthermore, the company has developed BoomGrow's Farm OS, an integrated remote management platform utilising machine vision and machine learning to enhance farm operations and performance through data analysis.
“BoomGrow is enabling access to better-quality fresh food by focusing on our ESG principles. Our commercial-scale solutions are backed by a data-driven approach which is key to resilience and agile decision-making. Ultimately, we are unlocking the future of food whilst having a transformative impact on the environment and our communities,” said Krishnamurthy.
Currently, BoomGrow can produce diverse greens, microgreens, and herbs, with future plans to broaden their production to include fruits and vine crops.
The company primarily supplies hotels, restaurants, and grocers. Additionally, it offers subscription packages for direct-to-home delivery through their website.
It was recently featured on Forbes Asia’s prestigious 100 to Watch List, one of just six Malaysian companies to achieve this recognition.
